Jigsaw Heart
by BittersweetSummer
Summary: I can't believe that I'm doing this.


Seth has never really had the feeling of having his heart shattered into millions of tiny little pieces, but he imagines that this must be close to what it feels like.

He wonders if it was possible to fall in love with your Alpha's imprint.

He wonders if his Alpha even _cares _if he fell in love with his imprint.

* * *

He's pretty sure that Jake doesn't know that Nessie hates being treated like a little china doll all the time.

Jake doesn't know that Nessie loves to sit on top of the clothes in the laundry hamper and read right after a load is out of the dryer.

Jake doesn't know that Nessie dances in the rain when she thinks that nobody's watching.

Jake doesn't know that she always cries when she watches _The Notebook_.

Jake doesn't know much about Nessie, but no one really noticed that.

Only Seth.

* * *

Seth spent most of his time trying to memorize details about Nessie that Jake doesn't even look for. Like the curve of her neck, the sound of her laugh, the contrast of her hair against the gloom of the sky.

Seth thinks that Jake thinks of Nessie as an _obligation_, something he _has _to protect, _has _to love, because she's his _imprint_, and you _have _to love your imprint forever and ever, until the world ends, and all of that romantic crap.

Right?

* * *

So when Nessie Cullen shows up crying on Seth's doorstep one Saturday afternoon, he lets her in without argument, knowing in his heart that something bad was going to happen.

And when he sees the tears in her eyes he lets her cry into his newly-washed shirt despite the part of him that's screaming _Danger. Danger. Danger_. _You're gonna get hurt._

He doesn't know whether it's intentional or not, but she shows him fleeting images, slipping by at a rapid-fire pace, barely giving him time to register them.

_Jacob halfheartedly hunting with Nessie._

_Leah watching with happy eyes as Jacob and Seth horsed around._

_Jacob and Leah arguing._

_Jacob and Leah running patrols, racing under the moonlight._

_Jacob and Leah wolfing down breakfast while Nessie picked at her food._

_Jacob watching Leah laugh, the sun shining around them._

"He loves her more than me."

Even when she was crying, her voice sounded beautiful. It was a bit disconcerting, trying to describe it. Like the feeling Seth got when he ran under the light of the moon, or sleeping under the stars with his pack.

"He told me that he couldn't do it anymore. Trying to love me…"

He finished the sentence.

"Because he's in love with someone else."

He can't help but add:

"Out of his own free will."

* * *

A part of himself feels grateful that someone's finally been able to _fix _Leah, heal her beyond anything that Seth could do.

Another part of himself feels like tearing Jacob Black to shreds.

* * *

Seth Clearwater has never really had the feeling of having his heart shattered into millions of tiny little pieces, but now he's sure that Nessie has.

It feels like he _lost _the old Nessie, the one he used to play tag with, the one who hid her face in his shoulder when she started to laugh too hard, the one who was his _best friend_.

But the thing is, you can't really lose something that didn't belong to you in the first place.

* * *

The images haunt his brain mercilessly.

_Nessie crying. Nessie laughing. Nessie smiling at him through her tears. Nessie flying into his arms. _

_Nessie, Nessie, Nessie._

(No use hiding it now.)

_You love her, don't you?_

Seth expects Leah to follow up with a sarcastic comment, but to his surprise, she says nothing.

_I'm not _that _heartless, brother. _

_Thanks, sis._

_Sorry, Seth._

Jacob's mind is filled with remorse, and he echoes what Leah said.

_Listen, kid. I'm really sorry about what happened. Nessie's a very sweet girl. But… _

_It's hard to explain?_

_Exactly. I know you hate me, Seth, but I hope you realize that this is your chance now._

_Don't hate you. _

_Don't lie. _

_Okay, maybe I hate you a little bit. You're my friend, Jake. I'm glad you're happier now. You too, sis._

_But…_

_But I don't think that Nessie thinks of me as more than a friend. _

Leah whines.

_So sorry…_

He can't take their pity anymore, so he phases back and heads home.

In the distance, a wolf howls.

* * *

Seth helps her put the pieces of her heart back together.

It breaks up the pieces of _his _heart along the way, but for now, he's satisfied with helping to sew hers back together.

So he's happier than he's ever been when she hugs him one day and whispers:

"_I don't know what I would have done without my best friend."_

_

* * *

_

Maybe, in some other world, they could have been something more.

But for now, he'll have to settle with this.

* * *

**Truthfully, I hate Nessie (aka 'devil spawn' to those who know me well) with every fiber of my being. Ahem, which is probably why this is not my best work.  
**

**I'm such a hypocrite.**

**(I enjoyed writing this.)  
**

**Happy Holidays, everyone.**


End file.
